


In the Rain

by SydAce



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angst, Book - Freeform, Comfort, Fluff, Food mention, Gen, Happy Ending, Rain, Sad Start, cancer mention, death mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 06:14:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20130682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SydAce/pseuds/SydAce
Summary: Aziraphale finds you broken in the rain.





	In the Rain

Drops of rain started to form on the ground slowly. The sidewalk would just have a few spots that were darkened. Then, it would gradually start to spread. The rain would fall heavier and heavier until it was pouring. Rushing water ran down the streets along with people seeking out shelter.

And there you stood. In the middle of the sidewalk with your arms to your sides and your face up towards the heavens. The rain made strands of hair to stick to your face. But the rain also made your tears nearly invisible to anyone looking. It didn’t really matter if it was obvious that you were crying. Everyone hustled past you, completely ignoring your figure.

Then, the rain stopped hitting your face. Your nose wrinkled up in confusion. The sound of rain pattering on the pavement still entered your ears. Slowly, you opened your eyes and saw an umbrella over your head. Your eyes trailed down the umbrella to a hand that was grasping the handle. Then, you looked up the arm and to the owner’s face.

His blue eyes were narrowed in concern. He wore a heavy frown that didn’t seem to really fit on his face. The wind blew past the pair of you, his small curls of blond hair flittered ever so slightly. But what really drew your attention was the tan coat he was wearing that fluttered behind him.

“You’re getting drenched. Are you alright, my dear?” he asked softly in an angelic voice. You stared at him with your lips firmly pressed together in a thin line. He was a complete stranger offering you sanctuary from the rain under his umbrella. You took a shaky breath and shook your head from side to side. “That’s what I was afraid of. I’m the owner of the shop, right there.” He pointed to a shop just across the street. “Why don’t you come on in and dry off?”

You hesitated for a moment, but the pain in your heart was becoming too much to bear alone. You nodded your head and followed the man. He stayed close to your side while holding his umbrella over you. Once you were at the entrance of his shop, he opened the door and motioned you to enter.

When you entered, you stepped to the side of the doors. Drops of water fell from your figure and onto the floorboards below. You winced slightly at the mess you were making. But as you looked around the shop, you realized that it was better getting the floorboards wet than any of the ancient-looking books.

“Follow me,” the man guided you to the back of the bookshop. “Here, you can dry off with this.” He handed you a fluffy white towel. You almost shivered with delight at how soft it was against your skin. “I’ll get you a change of clothes and put the kettle on.”

He disappeared as you started to run your hair through the towel. Once your hair wasn’t sopping wet, you patted your face dry as well as any other skin you had exposed. The man reappeared with a set of clothes and led you to the restroom.

“Take all the time you need, dear,” he spoke softly after handing you the clothes.

You looked down at what was in your arms and set them to the side. You quickly began to strip out of the clothes clinging to you for dear life. You shuddered from the lash of cold of your damp skin hitting the cool air. You took a moment to ring your clothes out over the sink before folding them into a pile. Then, you changed into a fuzzy pair of pajama bottoms and an oversized, cotton shirt that for some miracle seemed to fit you perfectly. It felt as though they were fresh out of the dryer and felt wonderful against your chilled skin.

Holding your own clothes in your arms, you left the restroom and quietly shut the door behind you. Looking around, you didn’t see the kind shop owner so you ventured further towards the backroom. He was standing over an electric kettle that was just starting to boil. His eyes fluttered towards your direction and he sent you a gentle smile.

“The water is almost ready,” he informed you. “Why don’t you take a seat? You still look a tad cold.” You nodded and looked around. There were a couple of sitting chairs and a couch. Though, one of the sitting chairs was crowded with books and loose bits of paper. With that in mind, you stiffly took a seat on the couch.

The kettle gave off a high-pitched ding and the man poured the hot water into a couple of mugs. “I have some black tea and honey. Does that sound alright?” You nodded your head and took the now steeping tea from him. “Careful, it’s still a bit hot.”

The mug in your hands was indeed warm. You held it close to your face and inhaled the wonderful scent of the mixture of tea and honey. It was calming, something that you desperately needed that day.

“Now, my dear, if you don’t mind me prying, why were you standing out there in the rain?”

You looked up to see him looking at you as though you were a frightened animal he was wanting to help. You brought the mug of tea to your lips and took a testing sip. A slight hiss escaped your mouth, it was still a tad too hot.

“I’ve been having a bad year,” you whispered. “A bad few years, actually. It’s all just too much to handle.”

“I see,” he said and looked down at the tea in his own hands. “Would you like to talk about it? It might help you feel better.”

“You wouldn’t mind listening?” you asked with some shock. Most people couldn’t be bothered by the troubles of a stranger.

“Not at all.”

Looking at your tea, you started to relax into the cushions of the couch. “This year started with my dad being admitted to the ICU. He had to be revived in the emergency room and get emergency surgery. He got a defibrillator implant to shock his heart whenever it starts beating too fast. The doctors said that if it went off twice within twenty-four hours to go to the ER. A couple of months later, it did. So I went with him to the emergency room. I ended up hallucinating there. Never done that before.”

The man nodded and took a sip of tea. “Stress can do weird things to the mind. I don’t blame you for that.”

“You don’t think I’m crazy?”

“Not at all.” He gave you a soft smile, “Even if you were, that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.”

You were silent for a few moments and took a few more sips of tea. It started to spread warmth from your stomach out to the rest of your body. “Then, my aunt was diagnosed with cancer.”

“I’m so sorry, dear.”

You nodded your head numbly. “They had to remove her entire kidney. A whole kidney. She’s not even in her forties and it’s gone. That’s two aunts who have gotten cancer so young. Then, one of my best friends ended up in a medical coma because of a blood clot. They almost died. And then…And then,” your voice quivered and your bottom lip started to tremble. Fat drops of tears started to roll down your face and a sob broke through.

The kind man put his tea mug on his desk and quickly made his way over to you. He sat next to you and pulled you into a hug. You cried into his chest while he rubbed his hand up and down your back. He didn’t tell you it was going to be okay. He didn’t tell you to hush. He didn’t give you false hope. He let you cry.

“She was killed,” you wailed. “I can still see her wounds, the towel over her eyes, everyone around her body just crying. It hurts so much.”

The man holding you frowned. You had been through so much in such a small amount of time that no one should have to endure in their entire life. It was a real miracle that you were still here and haven’t given up.

“I know it hurts, my dear,” he tried to soothe you. “It will hurt for some time, too. And it is definitely not fair. I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through all of this.”

You sniffled and pulled away from him. “Thank you.”

The man pulled out a handkerchief and started to dab at your tears. “It’s the least I could do.”

You laughed bitterly. “You’ve done far more than the minimum. You truly are an angel.”

He chuckled as if he was reminded of an inside joke. “Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure.”

You hiccupped slightly from the crying disrupting your breathing. “Still, thank you. Geeze, I don’t even know your name.”

“Aziraphale, it’s lovely to meet you.”

“[Y/N]. Thank you, Aziraphale.”

\--

A couple of days had passed by since you’ve met the kind bookshop owner. It was the only time you’ve had available, so you decided to bring him some homemade treats as a way to express your gratitude for helping you. You weren’t entirely sure what he liked, so you ended up baking a huge range of things: miniature pies (of varying flavors), biscuits, lemon bars, and brownies. You were slightly nervous that he wouldn’t like them, but you wanted to at least try to pay him back.

When you approached the shop, you saw him flipping the sign from closed to open. With a sigh of relief, you jogged across the shop and opened the door. Aziraphale was still near the entrance and glanced over when he heard the bell chime. He smiled brightly over at you. “[Y/N]! What a surprise!”

You gave him an anxious smile back and held out the container holding all of the baked goods. “I wanted to thank you for the other day. So I made you these!”

"Oh, you shouldn’t have,” he said and took the container. He popped the lid open and peered inside. Instantly, his face lit up. “These look scrumptious!” He looked over at his sign and seemed to have an internal battle. He shook his head with a silly grin and quickly made his way to the sign and flipped it over. “The customers can wait! Would you care to join me? It’d be more fun eating these with a friend, after all!”

\--

After that, you regularly visited the bookshop. It seemed to always be open, much to your surprise. From what you’ve heard, it was almost always closed whenever someone else would try to visit. But Aziraphale was always there, waiting with that same cheery smile of his.

There was one day when you walked in and somehow startled Aziraphale. He spilled a mug of hot cocoa over himself. “Oh goodness gracious! Sugar, sugar, sugar!” he swore out loud.

You rushed over to him, “Aziraphale! Are you okay? Did you get burned?”

“Just a tad.” He looked down at his vest and shirt and pouted. “I’ve kept this spotless for years!”

"We can get it out,” you said while taking the mug out of his hands and placing it on his desk. “Do you have water softener?”

“Oh, yes,” Aziraphale muttered and rummaged through some of the cabinets at the back of his shop. “Here we are!” He pulled out a seemingly full bottle of water softener and handed it to you. “Now what?”

“I need a bowl of cold water, a rag, and um…I’ll also need your shirt and vest,” you said and suddenly became more focused on the bottle you were holding with a slight flush on your cheeks.

“Right, let me just close shop really fast.” He brought you a bowl of water before leaving to flip the sign. The shop always seemed to close whenever you visited. Perhaps that’s why others complained.

Once you had mixed the water softener with the water, a bundle of cloth was handed your way. You glanced over and felt your cheeks grow rosier. Aziraphale looked to the side with a blush of his own. He was wearing a white undershirt. You glanced down his arms. They were surprisingly muscular. You supposed it was from fencing, something he mentioned he enjoyed doing from time to time.

“Thank you,” you mumbled and started to soak his shirt and vest. You were sure to be gentle with his clothing. You’ve never seen him wear anything else, so they must be special to him. Once they were soaked, you removed them from the bowl of water and started to dab at the stains of cocoa. Slowly, it started to fade from his clothes. You grinned once it was completely gone. “There!” You held up the clothing for him to examine.

“Oh my goodness, [Y/N]! You did it!” Aziraphale smiled brightly and brought you in for a tight hug. “Thank you!”

You felt your heart leap in your chest at the feeling of his bare arms wrapped around you. His chest was slightly exposed as your head was placed against it in his hug. He felt warmer than usual without his clothing there to buffer his body heat. He placed a kiss to the top of your head. Once you both realized what happened, you both tensed up and froze. Aziraphale reluctantly let you go and looked off to the side with his face flushed red.

“I’m sorry, [Y/N]. I got carried away.”

“It’s alright,” you uttered. “Just a peck on the head. Not a big deal. Just an expression of affection between friends.”

“Right, of course.” Aziraphale nodded with a small frown on his face.

"A-anyways,” you stumbled over your words, trying to get past the awkward silence between you. “I should get going. I just wanted to stop by and say hello.”

“Yes. Well, hello. Let me walk you out.” The pair of you walked towards the entrance of his shop. Aziraphale opened the door and bid you a farewell. Though, he smiled, it never really reached his eyes. He looked upset, but you just told yourself it was from embarrassment.

\--

You were at home pacing back and forth in your living room. The moments at Aziraphale’s shop kept replaying over and over again in your head. God, the images just wouldn’t stop. You could still feel his body heat and the press of his lips against the top of your head. You let out a shaky breath when you came to the ineffable conclusion.

You were utterly and completely in love with Aziraphale.

Suddenly, your phone started to vibrate in your pocket. You fished it out and looked at the screen at who was calling. A goofy picture you took of Aziraphale with cupcake icing on his nose showed up. You groaned at his perfectly imperfect timing.

“Hello?” you croaked into the phone.

“[Y/N]!” Aziraphale nearly shouted over the phone. “I need to talk to you!”

“Okay, what’s up?”

“No, not over the phone. I need to talk to you face-to-face.”

"Sure, do you want me to meet you at your shop?”

"That wouldn’t do, not special enough,” he seemed to mutter to himself. “No, meet me at the park. You know the gazebo? We’ve had ice cream there when it was raining.”

You chuckled lightly, remembering sprinting through the rain with him. He just had to get ice cream despite the storm clouds rolling in. He tried to do some magic by making a napkin appear from his sleeve when your face got messy from the ice cream. It did more to make you laugh than stare in awe.

“I know the one, I’ll be there soon.”

\--

You leaned against the railing of the gazebo and glanced at your phone to see what time it was. Aziraphale should have been there by now. His shop wasn’t too terribly far away. With a sigh, you settled for watching a dog play fetch with its owner.

“Sorry I made you wait!” you felt your heart leap again at the sound of his voice. You turned around to see an angel panting slightly. He was holding a stuffed teddy bear of your favorite color and a bouquet of your favorite flowers. “I had to make a stop before I got here.”

"What are those for?” you asked quietly while looking at the items in his arms.

“These are for you!” he said and held them out for you to take. You uttered a thanks and looked at him with confusion. “Right. Well, when you said that the peck on your head was a sign of affection between friends,” he paused while trying to gather some courage. “It wasn’t. I’m in love with you, [Y/N].”

Instantly, you dropped the teddy bear and flowers and threw your arms around him. You grinned wider than you thought possible. “I love you, too!” you exclaimed with joy. “I love you so much.”

Aziraphale chuckled and held you against him. “I’m so happy.” You pulled away and looked up at him. Standing on your toes, you pressed a kiss to his lips which he happily returned. Both of you pulled away and simply grinned at each other. Aziraphale laughed and lifted you up and spun you around. You squealed with glee and held onto him tightly, never wanting to let go.


End file.
